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Indonesia
Beef Import to be Reduced
Jakarta - The Indonesian government through its Ministry of Agriculture plans to restrict beef and cattle offal import for 2011 to only 50,000 tons. This volume is 70,000 tons lower compared to import realization in 2010, which was 120,000 tons.
Restrictions will not only be applied to beef and offal import, but import of feeder cattle will also be restricted to only 500,000 heads. The policy is considered to not take into account the national beef demand and production capacity.
Executive Director of the Indonesian Beef Producer and Feedlot Association (Apfindo), Joni Liano, on Monday (24/1) in Jakarta, said they have estimated the annual beef consumption in 2011 to be 2.1 kilogram per capita.
There is a 0.01 kilogram increase from 2010. Referring to that figure, beef and cattle offal demand for 2011 will be 506.653 tons, which is higher compared to the 496,780 tons demanded in 2010. “It is better if we prepare is more thoroughly in the start than suffering a shortage later,” he said. Joni explained that domestic beef production in 2011 based on data from the Beef Self-sufficiency Program 2014 will only be 316,100 tons. With less import, this year will suffer a deficit of 190,553 tons of beef and offal.
If this year the government only allocates import for 500,000 head of feeder cattle and 50,000 tons of frozen beef, it will reduce the deficit to 50,553 tons. This deficit is equivalent to 361,093 heads of local cattle (meat production 140 kilograms per head) or 280,850 heads of ex-import cattle (meat production 180 kilograms per head).
“To cover for 2011’s deficit, ideally Indonesia would need 645,833 heads of feeder cattle and 74.303 tons of imported beef,” he said.
General Chairman of the Indonesian Meat Importer Association, Thomas Sembiring, estimated the import allocation plan is still temporary, because it is not based on real demands.
Director General of Livestock Services from the Ministry of Agriculture, Prabowo Respatiyo Caturroso, on December 30, 2010, issued Distribution Letter No. 30018/2010 on Cattle Import in 2011. The letter was addressed to 24 importing companies in seven provinces.
Purchase Obligation
Aside from determining the allocation for feeder cattle and meat import, the letter also obligated importers to purchase local cattle as much as 10% of the total commodity imported.
Importers are also required to apply a 14 day quarantine period, fatten cattle for at least 60 days, and allocate a third of the establishment’s capacity for each fattening cycle.
Director of Livestock Husbandry from the Directorate General of Animal Husbandry, Riwantoro, said the policy, which enforces the use of local cattle for fattening, was made to encourage local cattle farmers. (MAS)
Source : Kompas